I have written about this topic in the past: The pros and cons of having a teenie-tiny backyard space.

Our backyard is less than 600 square feet total, and when you are dealing with such a compact area, your choice of plants, and how you plant them becomes really important.

Last summer this is what the entire backyard space looked like:

The previous owner had an obsession with hybrid roses.

This year I pulled out quite a few overgrown leggy plants and replaced them with new ones.

I extended out the raised bed and stone retaining wall and replaced the huge lacecap hydrangea with a smaller mophead variety. In order to give us a little more privacy, I added a Crepe Myrtle and an
Oleander (which I am training to grow into a "tree" instead of shrub)
along the fence line between us and the neighbor.

There was one part of the yard that I had trouble dealing with.

Under our citrus tree, the manifold for our irrigation system makes it impossible to plant anything in the ground.

What I really need is to plant something above it: The only solution is to grow up instead of out.

This is where the Pennington Vertical Gardening System is going to save me. Because you plant on a vertical surface, it allows me to have a garden in a tiny, otherwise un-plantable space. And even though I think my yard is tiny, there are people in apartments and condominums with even less outdoor space than me! The Pennington System would be perfect for them.

UPDATED: HERE IS THE POST WHERE I ACTUALLY INSTALLED THIS GARDEN SYSTEM!

Fall officially started this weekend, and I've already shared my formal autumn mantle, located in the living room. I also have a second fireplace in the family/playroom. Because this is the room that the kids hang out in, I wanted to make it a lot more fun and kid friendly.

I decided to go with a scarecrow theme and featured some of my daughter's kindergarten artwork.

I credit my mother for teaching me how to sew, craft and cook. Without
her there would be no Kim Six blog. Today I am writing about one of her projects. She doesn't have a blog so I told her I would love to share it here so she can inspire others the way she inspired me.

When my mom ran across this $5 mirror frame (the mirror had fallen out) at a church yard sale, she knew she could give it new life.

I promise you, this is going to be the easiest tutorial I have ever published on this blog.

In
fact, it was so easy I almost thought about not even posting it, but then
I reconsidered. If you have never used a drill, this is the best
starter project I can think of. You will learn to use your drill, how to select the correct drill bit as well as how to make a nice straight hole. And if you screw up, oh well! Try again. There is nothing on the line.

Okay.. Here we go.

First you have to find your victim willing volunteer. In my case I had a little 12 inch scarecrow from the Target dollar bin.

The next thing you need is a drill gauge. This is a great tool. It is one of things, besides the drill itself, that I use most when doing simple projects. If you don't have one, get one. (My dad actually got me my first drill gauge when I got my first drill, and I thought I would never use it. I was wrong. Father knows best!) They are pretty hard to find. The big box stores don't carry them. I recently lost mine and had to get one at a specialty tool shop.. but luckily you can find them online.

Even though the weather still feels a lot more like Summer, now that Starbucks is featuring Pumpkin Spice Lattes, it is officially fall! That means it is time to update my mantle. (Yes, I am even a little earlier than last year.)

Last month I shared my parent's boathouse makeover, and as promised, here is little tutorial on how to update plain exterior windows and doors with trim boards, to give your house (or boathouse) an upgraded look.

The windows on the main house had relatively ornate moulding. We wanted to give the boathouse a similar finished look, but for next to no money.

The cinderblock boathouse had extremely plain aluminum windows and the doorjamb/lintel was painted to match the interior of the house.

We also had to deal with the large brick sill underneath the window.

First we painted the areas around the windows and door the same color as the yet-to-be-installed trim.

This has been a SUPER exciting week for me, to say the least. I was stoked(wait?! Does anyone actually say stoked anymore?) thrilled to find out a few of my projects were chosen to be finalists at a couple of big contests going on in the DIY Blogosphere.

I am so excited to share this project with you today. Granted, it isn't extremely complicated, but I just LOVE the way it came out and how easy it was! It is a "maple" leaf made out of small sticks and twigs. (I put Maple in quotes since it isn't really the exact proportion of a maple leaf, but you could make it more anatomically correct if you wanted to.)

I was inspired by a smaller version I saw at the craft store. They wanted $30 for it, and I knew I could knock it off for way less than that: